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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Today’s Must Read – The Jay-Z Hegemony and International Relations

Foreign affairs can be tricky, especially for the top dog. The United States has been number one for a long time and there’s always debate as to how to handle those pesky nations challenging our position. How do we approach North Korea or Iran? Should we talk to them or do we slap them back into place?

Believe it or not, rappers have similar problems. Rapper on top of the game is attacked verbally by up and coming lyricist, challenging his position and his masculinity. Does the top rapper respond or remain silent?

Jay-Z is the current reigning rap king and has a new album due in September. In anticipation of this, West Coast MC, The Game, is challenging Jay-Z’s status, hoping to get notoriety and, possibly, the top spot. Marc Lynch at NPR uses this as a jumping point to review Jay-Z’s career, the various beefs and missteps, subtly comparing his life to how nations on top can deal with nations who want to be on top.